OUTDOOR SECTOR REBOUNDS IN Q1, PRINT'S SHARE OF PIE DECLINES

Outdoor media spend bounced back from its Covid slump in the first quarter of the year, almost back to pre-Covid levels, but digital continued to take a greater share of the pie at the expense of print.

The Out of Home (OOH) industry saw an increase of 25.5 per cent on net media revenue for Q1 2022, reporting $228.1m, up from $181.7mfor the same quarter in last year.

However print’s share fell below 40 per cent for the first time, it is now receiving 39.2 per cent of the spend, compared with 43 per cent for the same period last year, with spend on digital outdoor now topping 60 per cent.

OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich said, “The industry continues to rebound in the first three months of the year, with revenue down only slightly, by 2.9 per cent on pre-pandemic 2019. There are many signs that we are back on track, and that 2022 will see us achieve or even exceed pre-pandemic annual revenue.”

“Our commitment to transparency, accuracy and credibility in our audience measurement platform Move 1.5 and adoption of industry-wide standards to make it easier to plan and buy, have helped with our recovery. We have built tools and introduced processes that specifically fill the needs of our clients, and we are now starting to see the positive results.”

“As travel increases with the easing of testing requirements, we expect to see even more confidence in our channel’s ability to deliver reach and impact,” concluded Moldrich.

The OMA added two new members in March 2022: Helio, an online advertising marketplace, and Civic Outdoor, an independently owned and operated outdoor operator also joining Move.

According to figures released by Zenith, Australian advertising spend is expected to grow 5 per cent in 2022, off the back of 18 per cent growth in 2021.